Night Train || cth

e i g h t

"Come on Tay I don't see what the big deal is." Ashton, who was currently laying upside down on my bed, was clearly oblivious to why I freaked out on him earlier.

"Well, I don't think it's appropriate for a girl with a boyfriend to be giving her number out to other guys. Especially guys she doesn't even know!" My voice went from a normal tone to a raised yell throughout the duration of my sentence. I couldn't help but get furious over Ella's actions tonight.

"It's not like I'm going to call or text her anyways."

"Doesn't matter. She still gave it to you." I sighed deeply as I sat down next to him on my bed.

"Who is her boyfriend anyways? He must mean something to you if you're getting so infuriated over it." He slowly turned over and sat up straight next to me.

"Luke." I whispered, nervously fumbling my hands together.

"Luke as in Luke Hemmings? The Lucas Robert Hemmings in which you dated?" He raised his eyebrow at me, and I'm pretty sure he already knew the answer to his question.

"No a different Luke." I said sarcastically.

"Huh? Well, it all makes sense now."

"Oh does it?" I said, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Of course it does. You still have feelings for him, so you want to watch out for him."

"I do not have feelings for him." I argued. "I simply care for him is all, and yes I do want to watch out for him."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night Tay." He winked at me and slithered his arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him. "I'm only teasing. I know you care for him, and I promise I won't contact her."

He pulled away his arm and reached into his back pocket, pulling out the piece of paper with Ella's number on it. He crumpled it up in his hands and tossed it into the trash can.

"Thanks Ash."

"Anytime. Now come here." He motioned for me to hug him, and I did just that. His hugs always made me feel better, and I'm so glad he's staying with us for a little while.

"I really have missed you." I told him what he already knew.

"I know. I missed you too squirt."

---

Rolling out of bed on a Monday morning is horrifying as it is, but rolling out thirty minutes later than you're supposed to is disastrous. Once I saw the clock, I jumped out of bed nearly stepping on Ashton, who was asleep on the floor next to my bed. Since the guest room is in the middle of a makeover he had to sleep in my room.

I hopped in the shower and was out in the matter of about five minutes. I think that was the quickest shower I've ever taken in my life. Pretty impressive if I say so myself.

I decided to throw my blonde hair up into a bun, and put on minimal makeup consisting of mascara and concealer. I picked out a very casual outfit of skinny jeans, a black Mayday Parade band tee, and black vans.

My bag was sitting at the bottom of the stairs, so I rushed down to grab it and was out the door immediately.

By the time I made it to school, first period was going on for about twenty minutes. I got a late pass and made a quick stop at my locker to get my books.

I slammed the locker door shut and began walking down the hallway with the three textbooks in my arms. I must've been daydreaming because I managed to walk straight into another body.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry." I tried to gather up my textbooks as quick as I could.

"No it's my fault. I'm sorry." The stranger apologized. Wait, why does this voice sound familiar?

I slowly looked up from my textbooks into the brown eyes of the stranger I bumped into. Well, he's definitely not a stranger.

"Calum? What are you doing here?" I asked quizically.

"I go here." He stated simply while picking up the remainder of his things.

"No you dont. I'm pretty sure I would've seen you before."

"I do now. My mom switched me a couple of days ago. I used to go to a private school." We both collected our belongings, and gradually stood up staring at each other intently.

"Oh. Looks like I'll be seeing you more often then."

"Looks like it." He gave me a half smile and stuck out his hand for me to shake. "I still don't know your name mystery girl."

I decided that it might finally be time to reveal my secret identity.

"Taylor." I accepted his handshake and gave him a half smile in return.

"Taylor. I like it. Much more elegant than 'Mystery Girl.'"

"I, uh should be getting to class now. I'm already really late." I broke our intense eye contact and looked down to my shoes.

"Me too. I kinda got lost on the way here..." He trailed off and looked down to his shoes as well.

"What class do you have?" I asked.

"History." He made a gagging face and I couldn't help but laugh.

"What a coincidence. So do I. McGrath?"

He looked down to the schedule in his hands, "Yup I have McGrath."

I stepped in front of him and extended my arm out to him, "Shall we?"

"We shall."

---

It turns out that Calum and I have every class together except for one. This helps me a lot because I didn't know anybody in one of those classes, and now I have him for company.

After school had ended, I took Calum down to the parking lot with me to meet everybody. Our entire group was there today, so there was going to be a lot of introductions.

"Hey guys!" I greeted my friends with a wave and a sweet smile.

"Hey Tay!" All seven of them said together.

"Oooh who's this?" Claire asked stepping away from Jake.

"Guys, this is Calum." I gestured towards Calum who offered a shy wave.

"Calum this is Claire." I pointed to my rambunctious best friend.

I went through all of the introductions which included Claire's boyfriend Jake, Jessica, Piper, Scarlett, Amber and her boyfriend Adam. They all smiled and waved towards him. I could tell that they were all secretly wondering where and how I met him.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all, but I must get going. My mom is probably waiting out front."

"I can take you home if you want." I offered.

"Oh no I don't want to impose-"

"Calum, it's no problem at all." I cut him off before he could say anymore on the subject.

We all hung around for another twenty minutes before heading our separate ways. Everybody seemed to like Calum and hopefully he can hang around them more often.

As we were about to get in my car, I spotted Luke and Ella coming towards us. I glanced at Luke who was looking at Calum, and then glanced at Ella who was looking at me.

I looked over to Calum with a pleading look and he seemed to get the message because we both got in the car and slammed our doors. I started the car and backed out before Luke and Ella could reach us.

---

"Thanks for driving me home Taylor." Calum said as he got out of my car grabbing his bag.

"You're welcome and you can call me Tay if you'd like."

"Well, thank you Tay. I really appreciate it." He stopped for a moment and looked like he was thinking deeply about something. "By the way, you can call me Cal if you'd like."

"Bye Cal."

"Bye Tay."

This is kind of short and boring, so I might do a double update. I'm not entirely sure yet, but who knows. :) Enjoy!